Kalinga Fellowship is a remarkable partnership among the government, business and civil society to create zero tolerance to sexual assaults on girls. An initiative of Dr. Achyuta Samanta, Founder, KIIT & KISS, the fellowship is imparted by BRIDGE in association with FXB India, Ashoka Foundation and Dasra through Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS). The main objective of the Kalinga Fellowship is to bring together key stakeholders to facilitate a breakthrough in thinking and strategy to answer the question: How can business, government and NGOs work together to prevent and redress sexual assault on girls in Odisha?

On this occasion, a five-day workshop was inaugurated at KISS and KIIT today. Corporate leaders and representatives of the civil society from 40 countries are participating in the workshop as mentor, while the senior police officers, bureaucrats, legal luminaries, media, and corporate officials as well as NGOs from India are mentees. Both the mentors and mentees are called Kalinga Fellows.

The three high level objectives of five-day strategy event are to build a set of breakthrough strategies that will prevent and redress sexual assaults on girls in India, to provide each participant leadership techniques, skills and method to enable them to lead this agenda both at the fellowship and afterwards, and to create a cohesive governance team to work together to drive these strategies during and after the event. During this five-day programme, each participant will be provided leadership techniques, skills and methods which will enable them to lead this agenda during the fellowship and for one year afterwards.

It is a unique platform where senior functionaries from the corporate sector, NGOs, media, bureaucrats, senior police officers from various countries have come together to discuss on a social problem and plan and implement the strategy to solve the problem, said Mr. Shashikumar Velath of Ashoka Foundation.

Leaders of big companies like Apple, HSBC, Google, MARS, So Just Add Water and Dentsu Aegis as well as NGOs like FXB, BRIDGE, Ashoka, HHH, Pearson, Lakhyam, Prajwala, EKJUT, Rajiv Gandhi Foundation and others are participating.

Each participant is matched with a mentor both throughout the five-day event and one year afterwards. They will receive a year of mentoring and coaching to supporting them in achieving their vision. It is also a capability development programme, teaching the participants some of the most of the contemporary leadership strategy techniques, skills and methods which they can apply in their leadership programme after the event.

BRIDGE specializes in leadership, senior team development, transferring organization culture and facilitating strategic change. BRIDGE works with some of the world’s forward looking company and government institutions. FXB India is a renowned NGO focused to developmental assistance to marginalized children, families and communities in rural and urban India. Dasra is an influential philanthropy organization head quarter in Mumbai backed by institutions like US aid, Bill and Melinda Foundation and Piramal Foundation.